The University of Idaho Argonaut

Students, teachers and administrators from across the state of Idaho attended the sixth annual Indian Education Summit in Boise last week.
The purpose of the summit is to improve Native American education in the state of Idaho.
“American Indian students fall behind all other students in every area when it comes to testing scores,” said Mary Jane Oatman-Wak Wak, Indian education coordinator.

The two-day summit consisted of several keynote speakers, workshops on innovative teaching methods, the State Indian Education Report Card and a college student panel.

Angelique EagleWoman, professor at the University of Idaho College of Law, was the keynote speaker Oct. 2. EagleWoman connected how U.S. Indian Law has impacted Native American education.
“There was no classification between learners,” EagleWoman said. “Adults learned from children as much as children learned from adults.”
EagleWoman also stressed there are no tribal colleges in Idaho, yet there are several tribes that reside within the state.
Oatman-Wak Wak presented the State Indian Report Card on the afternoon of Oct. 2. Native American students score significantly lower in state proficiency tests than non-Native American students.

Native American students make up approximately 2 percent of the student population in Idaho. Data shows that nationally out of 100 Native American students who start kindergarten, 71 graduate from high school and only seven obtain at least a
bachelor’s degree. 
Comparatively, out of 100 non-native students, 94 graduated from high school and 34 obtained a bachelor’s degree.
Simon Tu, a Boise State University graduate, was the keynote speaker Friday morning. Tu is a McNair Scholar and is currently attending a master’s program at Cornell University.

Tu grew up in a low-income home and was raised by his grandparents after his parents split up. He describes his past as a way to show getting an education is important and is a way to fight against the poverty on reservations.
“Getting an education is an act of political defiance against the oppressors,” Tu said.
Native American students learn in a different way than non-Native Americans, said D’Lisa Pinkham, a fifth grade teacher at Lapwai Elementary School in Lapwai, Idaho.

“Native people learn by doing,” she said.
Pinkham’s workshop,  “Native ways of knowing,” focused on how to educate native students in the sciences by connecting it to the world around them.
The workshops were focused on innovative teaching methods to improve the education of Native American students.
“Conditions have improved but not by much,” Tu said.
The student panel expressed similar concerns which include students from UI, Idaho State University, BSU and Lewis-Clark.
The panel said the best way for university administrators to help retain their Native American students is to have a place for them to go, or have Native American staff for students to speak with.
“BSU doesn’t have what UI has for its Native students,” said BSU students Hailey Wilson and Jillian Putra. “We do a lot of the recruiting and reaching out on our own, without help.”

UI and LCSC have a Native American Student Center for Native American students to connect with other native students.
State Superintendent Tom Luna said there is an inseparable connection between education and a robust economy — neglect one and the other will suffer.
“Indian education has been neglected. We must improve student achievement, and their options should not be limited,” Luna said.
There are various initiatives the State Indian Education committee is trying to put into effect, including an initiative to decrease the drop-out rate.
“Education is key; it’s a tool to survive,” Oatman-Wak Wak said. “Native kids operate in society with a duel world view.”